Start At The Beginning
by IFeltHope44
Summary: After several years of oblivion and a screw up here and there, Zuko finally got it right. But, as you know, it's not where you're going that matters; it's how you get there that counts. A Zutara fic.


**Written for my 5000th page view on deviantART. One of the ways I show my readers love. :)**

**I own nothing! Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph, Aang, Azula, and anything else recognizable belong to Mike/Bryan/Nickelodeon/Viacom.**

**Enjoy! **

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The first time he kissed her, he had faced death no more than ten minutes earlier.

"Don't push yourself," she cautioned, staggering slightly under his weight as she supported him. He winced and nodded, glaring at the woman with roughly chopped hair and hands that were chained to the ground. Azula's horrid screaming had morphed into wretched sobs punctuated by desperate gasps for breath.

Katara clutched his hand and buried her face into his shoulder, breathing in the smoke and sweat and spice that was uniquely him as she cried.

"I couldn't do it," she murmured, finding her voice surprisingly calm.

"You did the right thing. She shouldn't have to die fighting like that." Zuko sighed, and it was a sound that told of what he'd been through in the past few years, things that no seventeen year old boy should have faced.

Slowly-not from hesitation, but from pain-he raised his arm and rested a hand on the side of her neck. His lips found her forehead, just lightly touching her. Another heavy sigh followed; Katara could feel his hot breath on her clammy skin. "It'll be okay," he said quietly.

She simply stood at his side and watched the smoke from the Agni Kai mingled with the grey clouds in the horrendous, blood-red sky. Worry was plastered on her face and in her eyes. "I hope you're right."

...

The second time he kissed her, it was merely politically correct.

"Warrior Suki of Kyoshi Island and Vice Chief Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe," the man's voice boomed from his place to the right of the Fire Lord. Polite applause from the many party-goers followed as the two fighters pushed past heavy drapery and emerged next to Lord Zuko.

Suki bowed slightly to Zuko, smirking as she met his eyes. Sokka reached over to clasp Zuko's arm in the traditional Water Tribe fashion, and then was pulled away by his date when the royal announcer-_yes_, there was a royal announcer, Zuko explained later-called out Aang and Toph's titles.

The younger pair came out with perhaps a little less concern for "proper" etiquette than their friends did. Toph mimicked Suki with only a few inappropriate remarks muttered under her breath. Aang gave Zuko what seemed to be a cross between a handshake and a hug, then managed to stop Toph from punching one of Zuko's advisers when the misfortunate and ill-informed man called her a "dainty little lady."

"Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe," announced the man, who was frankly getting on Zuko's nerves with his nasally voice. Alone and draped in layer upon layer of lush blue fabric, Katara crossed the short distance to her escort. She curtsied low, and he, in turn, bowed deeply. Zuko gauged her expression and took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips.

"Shall we?" he asked, extending his arm for her.

A grin tugged at her mouth as she accepted his invitation and linked her own arm around his. "We shall," she answered.

...

The third time he kissed her, he was slightly intoxicated.

He hadn't meant to drink so much, but after that first shot of fire sake, they just kept coming. After all, the whole gang was with him for one of their monthly get-togethers and he found nothing wrong with downing a few shots.

"And-and then he said shumthing about using seal jerky as fishing bait! Who in their right mind would use such deliciousness to keshafish?" Sokka slurred.

Aang laughed, confused, and Katara excused herself from the large round table of the Earth Kingdom pub she was currently at. Zuko watched her with flushed cheeks and glazed eyes, mentally tracing the form moving hastily toward the ladies' room.

Lacking a solid plan but feeling encouraged by the alcohol, the young Fire Lord got up to follow her. Katara emerged from the restroom minutes later, her hair a little straighter and her lips shinier than when she went in.

"Oh, Zuko. What are you doing?"

"_Why _do you have to be so damn _sexy_?"

Her brows drew into a hard line. "Excuse me?"

"You're _hot_," he emphasized.

"Um." She shifted nervously, glancing past his shoulder to where the other four members of their group sat munching away at salty snacks. "Thanks." She took a step to the left, intending to walk around him, and he caught her wrist mid-step.

It seemed like a good idea, it really did. At least, in his mind it did. Katara, however, didn't quite follow the same thought process and a strangled screech grew in her throat as his lips suddenly moved across hers.

"What do you think you're doing?" she fumed as she jerked away, narrowly missing hitting her head on the wall in the process.

A blank stare met her flaming eyes. "Kissing you," Zuko said matter-of-factly, as if it was completely normal to be doing so.

"Spirits. Zuko, you're drunk. You have no idea what you're doing. Go back to the hotel and get some rest." With a final look of contempt, she went back to her friends, placed a few coins on the table to pay for her share of the bill, and marched out of the musty bar.

Much, much later, Zuko woke to the sound of obnoxiously chipper people in the hotel hallways. He really didn't remember how he got back to the room, but his pounding headache reminded him of everything he drank the previous night. He also remembered that stupid musician, the burn of the dry alcohol, the slight flavor of cherries, and…and…

_Oh, shit_.

He really screwed up this time.

...

The fourth time he kissed her, a few days after the horrendous third incident, she kissed him back.

"Look, about the other night. You were right; I didn't know what I was doing. Can we just kind of…forget about it?" Golden eyes met golden eyes in the gilded mirror. Zuko sighed, passing a hand over his shaggy hair. He was never good at apologies, but he was going to have to do _something _in order to keep his best friend and favorite training partner.

He slowly closed his door and went to the guest chambers were Katara had stayed the night, since he was attempting to get the North Pole to form an alliance with the Fire Nation, he thought Katara would come in handy when trying to convince them. _You were right. You were right. You were right_, he chanted in his mind.

He gave two short knocks on the large wooden door, and there were a few beats of empty silence before that door opened.

"Zuko," the waterbender said, slightly surprised. "Hi." She leaned against the door frame, blocking the entrance but allowing him to speak face to face with her.

_You were right_. "You were wrong," he informed her and mentally kicked himself.

"Wrong about what?" Her crossed arms unfolded to rest at her hips.

"You told me I had no idea what I was doing the other night, but I did…well, mostly. I just-I'm just really bad at this stuff." He dropped his eyes to the floor as the sound of his own rambling reached his ears. "I like you. I-I mean, um, I like you as more than a friend." His pale skin flushed a deep crimson, burning his ears. "You know, never mind. Can you just forget any of this ever happened?"

Katara drew a long breath. "Zuko," she whispered. He looked up but didn't meet her eyes, staring at the space right above her shoulder. "I'm not going to forget this. But how about we make this right?"

A look of confusion passed over his face and she smiled, ducking back into her room and closing the door. "Give it another try." Then she disappeared into the guest chamber altogether, leaving a perplexed young man standing out in the hall.

He heard a lot of frantic shuffling on the other side of the door, along with a muttered curse, before she opened the door once more. The same kimono she flaunted several nights ago hugged her frame again, slightly wrinkled with a sloppy knot holding the sashes together. Katara gave him a meaningful look filled with something else he couldn't decipher, and then her face turned to a mask of surprise.

"Oh, Zuko. What are you doing?"

Something clicked in his mind. "You're beautiful," he murmured at once, the reverence in his voice compensating for his rash words from several nights prior.

"Thank you," Katara said on cue, smiling gently.

Zuko shifted uncomfortably on his feet, his eyes meeting hers then dropping again. There were several things he could say, but nothing seemed quite right. Every line that played through his mind seemed either too blunt, too awkward, or too sappy. He pondered over his choices until Katara's low voice interrupted his thoughts and he remembered he was not alone in the hallway.

Katara prompted, "What are you thinking about?"

The answer came naturally, immediately. "Kissing you," he informed her, barely about to concentrate on anything besides the way her eyes glowed as he spoke and the insistent tattoo his heartbeat drummed in his chest.

Both their faces flushed deep crimson in the way that inexperienced, love struck teenagers do. "Okay," the waterbender said, lacking a better answer. Besides, elaborate words were not needed, since she got her point across clearly.

His mouth brazenly found hers, this time accepted graciously. Soon, lips thundered across lips, eager and tender.

"That," Katara gasped after long minutes, "was much better."

...

Hundreds of kisses followed, perhaps thousands, and it would take much too long to recount every single one. The millionth time he kissed her, they finally made their happily ever after official.

Every prince needs his princess, he reasoned, and every princess is the star in her own faerie tale. They were married in the spring, when the sakura trees in his mother's garden exploded in a flurry of soft magenta flower petals. He donned his red and gold armor with a high collar, while her off-the-shoulder gown trailed after her in a silken sea of ivory and gold embroidery. (She said her dress made her feel important when she tried it on, watching the long train follow her as she walked.)

It made Zuko proud to know that the sapphire-eyed woman who could both fight and love expertly would soon be his wife, and he wanted to make sure that she knew she wasn't just a possession or a trophy that stood quietly by his side. Vows were spoken through watery voices, and Katara began to bow to him, as was the custom. Zuko caught her arm before she could do so much as break eye contact and kissed her roughly. She would never have to submit to him like Fire Ladies before her were forced to obey their husbands.

Some of the elders gasped in horror as the Lord stopped the crucial compliance stage of the wedding and skipped straight to the eternal joining part. _Hell with that_, Zuko thought. So many rules were already broken. He figured that one more wouldn't hurt.

_~Fin~_

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**Ughhhhhhh. I'm sick. And yet, here I am, posting stuff on ffn. -sigh- What I wouldn't do for all of you...**

**I have three stories in progress as of now. I am nearly done with one (you'll get that soon), another is about half done (you'll get that somewhere around November 26, my birthday), and the last one is in a state of...blah. I can't seem to get anything done with it. And, naturally, it is my most requested story. -_-' I fail.**

**Speaking of which, guess what I'm doing for my birthday this year? I am flying across the country to meet/hang out with MissScarlett45! I'm so excited. I3MissScarlett. :)**

**Review, please?**  
**Tchao, Zutarians.**  
**-Erika-**  
**xoxo**


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